The Belmont Abbey College men's volleyball team fell to 8-5 overall with a five set heartbreaker to out of conference opponent Coker on Friday night in the Wheeler Center. Coker improves to 7-5. After a commanding win in the first set of 25-19, The Abbey dropped sets two and three 20-25 and 26-28 until breaking even in the fourth frame 25-14. The deciding set needed extra points but Belmont Abbey fell 16-18.

The Abbey attack was led by senior outside hitter Nolan Albrecht who paced the Crusaders with 23 kills on 51 attacks and three aces. Senior setter Derek Sullivan dished out 40 assists while freshman libero Carson Flood notched eight digs. Senior middle blocker Dustin Buell contributed with seven kills and 3.5 blocks.

The Crusaders struck first in the opening set with a .267 clip but would falter in sets two and three hitting -.038 and .115 respectively. The Cobras surged in the second and third sets swinging at a .346 clip each set. But the Abbey swelled in the fourth amassing 14 kills on 21 attempts with only one error giving them a .619 attacking percentage. Coker pushed in the fifth set even being down at the 8-point switch and the Abbey offense could not keep up.

Your Crusaders are on the road Saturday February 27 at Limestone. First serve is slated for 2:00 PM.